


The End (for now)

by Nishloo



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Demogorgon Mentions, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Stranger Things (TV 2016), Slight Steve/Nancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-05 03:11:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12785682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nishloo/pseuds/Nishloo
Summary: The moments after everyone returns to the Byers home, some show late and others do not.Some emotions from characters and mostly fluff interactions between them.





	The End (for now)

The Byers had rushed back to their broken and open home as soon as the black whisp had untangled itself from inside Will, crawling from his body and blackening his blood and skin momentarily before it ripped itself from his mouth and shot into the freezing air outside of Hopper’s hidden cabin. It was complete silence when the wisp left, everyone holding their breath until Will let out a rather relieved, ragged sigh, his mother yelling out in tears as she threw herself at her youngest, the boy she had been trying to get back home for so long now. She felt tired, body slackening as she threw her bony arms around Will’s shaking frame, the young boy burying himself in his mother's arms. They both had a wave of emotion collide over them, exhaustion and safety, enhanced with love as soon as Jonathan found himself enveloping both of them into his arms, their sobs being the only sound thing within the cabin - not a single sense of life scurried outside to dare disrupt such a close and long overdue family reunion. Even Nancy joined in on the tears and warmth radiating off of one another, Jonathan easily pulling her into the family hug, craving her touch and her warmth to bring his pounding heart to normal speed. He could feel her own heartbeats calm when she met with them, hands gripping Jonathan’s shirt like an anchor. Their eyes had connected within the embrace, both holding the same intensity and emotion for one another and for the situation - relief flooding through them from the safety of Will and the equal love and affection they held for each other in that moment. Their lips would have met if it weren’t for Will's movements and quiet words of ‘where were they’ ‘where was Mike’ - questions that brought shaky tears sliding down his mother and brothers cheeks, hesitant laughter passing their chapped lips. 

They had decided to go back to their home after that, Jonathan driving them back to the house they resided in. Eyes look to the mirror, gazing to the heartwarming sight of his mother and younger brother clinging to each other in the backseat. Joyce sat on the seat with Will laying across the seat, head resting in his mother’s lap as she sent gentle strokes through his hair, tears yet cascading down her frail and sunken cheeks. She couldn’t believe that her little soldier was okay, she had only hoped that everything would go okay for her little boy, for hope was all she had when they recovered him in the state he was in before they were able to get the sickly creature out of him. He stirs in her lap, eyelids heavy and fluttering shut, breathing turning easily and relaxing as he clung to his mother's lap with a sense of security and safety with her and his brother nearby.  
Nancy sat beside Jonathan in the passenger's seat, eyes gazing outside the windshield with her heart pounding with every bump of the car. She had so many thoughts roaring through her busy mind, thoughts of her brother and Steve. She left the two behind in the Byers home and chose to go with Jonathan, to be there for him instead of being there for her sibling and Steve. She trusted Steve with taking care of Mike, with taking care of all the other children stored in the small home as they waited for Will’s speedy recovery. Yet she couldn’t help the churning of her stomach, the dropped out feeling whenever her mind wandered to the two not being there when they got back, or laying in a mass of blood and crunching bones and mushed flesh as monster hungered upon their bodies. 

Jonathan took her clenched hand into her own, worried expression focusing on the angry tears that rolled down her porcelain cheeks. Hazy eyes meet with his and they seem to snap out of the trance they were placed in by Nany’s dark thoughts. A shaky breath passes her lips and she intertwines her fingers with his as she leans back into the seat, desperately trying to calm her roaring mind and furiously pounding heart.  
Though it started once again as the car pulled into the driveway of the Byers home, not a car in sight. That’s not what worried the teen, the fact that there was no group of concerned children waiting for Will to be brought inside were not peering out the window or scurrying to the door to stand on the porch and approach the car as it came to a stop, engine stuttering to a halt as Jonathan removed the keys. The dread only coiled in Nancy’s stomach as she opened the door, stepping out easily with eyes yet focused on the window and front door of the home, waiting for someone to step outside. The image of a deceased and ravaged little brother once again entered her mind and she rushed to the home, ignoring Jonathan’s worried calls as he exited the car. She quickly threw herself at the front door, opening it and rushing inside only to trip over a body - a body that she was too afraid to look at, moving away from it quickly. She expected to see Mike laying on the ground surrounded by blood, to see Steve or one of the other children but her terrified eyes instead met the unconscious body of Billy Hargrove, collapsed on the floor of the living room. 

“Jonathan!” She called from her spot quavering on the floor, voice high pitched with a mixture of fear and confusion, and Jonathan came running. He was ready to come into contact with one of the monsters and was prepared to protect Nancy the best he could, but was instead met with Nancy sitting on the ground with a body nearby that he barely recognized, brow furrowing once the name came to his mind. “Is that Billy Hargrove?” Jonathan had only heard of him throughout school, a bad boy with a beautiful face and body fighting Steve for the position of boss of the school, head of Hawkins high school. 

Nancy only nodded in acknowledgement and Jonathan had moved to her side, pulling her shaking frame to her feet. 

“Who is that?” Joyce asks as soon as she stands in the doorway, an exhausted Will in her arms as he struggled to stay away. “Why is he here? Where are the kids?” Joyce’s voice only grows with worry and panic as the question keep leaving her mouth, muscles tightening as millions of thoughts and scenarios run through her mind. Will moves and her arms and before she continues to ask more questions, she moves around the unconscious body and places WIll on the couch, making sure he was positioned comfortably before turning around to face Nancy and Jonathan. 

Nancy rushed in the kitchen, voice high and calling out for Mike and Steve, cracking at the sight of broken objects lying within the kitchen, which meant that there had to have been some sort of struggle, some sort of fight that occurred in the kitchen. “Mike! Steve!” Her voice grew with more and more concern as she moved in circles, Jonathan moving throughout the rest of the house calling out for them. He had even gone out to the back of the house, eyes frantically searching the yard and the shed they had, it was barren and empty and Jonathan ran back into the house to meet the frantic form of Nancy and the worried expression of Joyce as she kneeled beside Will who was only partially awake.

“Where’s Mike?” He continued to ask, voice groggy and eyes heavy as he reached his hands out for someone, frantic for his best friend as he desperately tried to reach out for him. Joyce had met his hands instead, shaking as she hung onto them, “We - we don’t know.” She says reluctantly, a shine of headlights piercing the dark of the home as a car drifted into the driveway, quiet and soft. Everyone held their breath as they stared through the open window and open door, blinded by the headlights until they died with the engine of the vehicle that had pulled in. Hopper’s cruiser was revealed as he and a very exhausted Eleven moved out of the car, Eleven moving to lean on Hopper as the two went into the open door of the home. 

“Who the hell is that?” Jim said as soon as he came inside, eyes immediately finding the boy lying on the floor. “Why is he here?” He questions once again, protectively placing an arm around Eleven’s small frame in case the teen was here for Eleven - even though he wouldn’t be doing much damage where he was on the floor. “A kid from our school, Max’s step brother I think.” Nancy said reluctantly, recalling whom the teen was. All she knew was that he was new to Hawkins, elder brother to Max, and someone who loved to pick fights with Steve in the halls of school and at after parties.  
She hadn’t much interaction with him, and she chose to ignore him most of the time anyway, Steve didn’t like him so neither would she. 

Eleven looks to Billy with a wary expression, tired gaze moving around the room to focus on Joyce and Will and then to move to Nancy and Jonathan. Her heart quickened, “Where’s Mike?” Her small voice piped up, looking up to Jim expectantly as though he would know where they went, even though he had gone with her to face the other dimensions rift and large monster behind it. Jim finally took this time to notice that a certain group of small individuals were nowhere in sight, and he panicked, steely expresion drifting around the room. Nancy spoke up before Jim could, “They’re not here - we don’t, we don’t know where they are.” Jonathan takes her shaking hand into his own, hoping to comfort her the best way he could, even though his mind was racing a mile a minute as he thought of where Steve and the kids may be. He assumed that they would all stay in the Byers home, but they could have gone somewhere else if the home was overrun by the Demogorgons. 

They were beginning to think the worst when light poured into the room from yet another car pulling into the driveway and parks itself behind Joyce’s car. It wasn’t a car that was familiar to any of them and they were all on immediate defense until the idle chatter of children reached their ears. Nancy was first to the doorway, hands shaking as her eyes landed on the figures of her brother and Steve. She had rushed to Mike as soon as he reached to the porch, a confused grunt coming from him when Nancy pulled him into a crushing hug, “Don’t you ever do that again!” She says, voice wavering as noticable tears fell from her cheeks, which only confused Mike even more. “Do what?” He says as he pulls back from her, eyes watching her from behind the goggles he wore. “Go missing.” She easily replies, hand wiping at a few stray tears on her cheek. Her hazy eyes then looked to Steve who was walking towards her and Mike with the other three children following closely behind him, talking excitedly about some sort of explosion they caused. “Nancy-” Steve starts, hands moving up to slide a pair of goggles up his forehead, bunching his hair up and then moving a bandanna that was tied around his mouth. He obviously didn’t know what to say and was visibly uncomfortable with how his hands retracted from reaching out to her. His eyes caught sight of a lanky figure in the doorway, dirty blond hair covering his eyes as he moves back into the house and towards his family. 

A sigh passes his busted lips, gaze moving to the ground as a strong sense of heartache plagued him. “Steve…” Nancy begins, chewing her bottom lip between her teeth as she takes a step towards him, unsure of whether she should pull him into a hug or not. She was ecstatic that he was safe but it felt wrong to reach out to him, or even look to him. They were broken from their awkward stand-off by Dustin who came up to Steve, gracing the teen with a smile on his face. He slung an arm around Dustin’s shoulders and moves passed Nancy as they went into the house. It hurt him to do so, to ignore Nancy and the emotions that dwelled within his heart. He wanted nothing more than to pull her close, to hold her and capture her in a delicate kiss because damn, was he happy to be alive and see her well and safe. But the sight of Jonathan watching from afar, Jonathan who had immediately felt jealous and protective as he watched Steve approach Nancy - Steve couldn’t do it, he couldn’t swoop Nancy off her feet because she choose to be with Jonathan, and Steve couldn’t hurt him anymore by doing that. They would go back to square one with Steve as the merciless bully and Jonathan as the broken victim who was too afraid to fight back and say something until his emotions completely consumed him, over-running him and causing him to take angry actions that he would regret later. 

So instead Steve followed Dustin’s lead inside as he went on and on about what they had just done and gone through, Max and Lucas following close behind them in their own animated conversation, small bodies close together and hands slightly brushing against each other. Nancy took in a breath before directing Mike inside, whom had instantly smiled at the sight of Eleven standing beside Hopper, and the two embraced in a large hug, both happy that each were okay. Mike had then set his sights onto the very exhausted Will who was asleep on the couch with Joyce sitting beside the couch. She stood when Mike approached, he taking her place beside Will with an equally worried expression. Goggles and equipment forgotten the floor, he reached over and took one of Will’s hands within his own, “You’re going to be okay.” Tears pricked at his clear eyes, Will mumbling a jumbled amount of murmurs being the only response he gave to Mike’s emotional support.

Jim chose that moment to address the children, “Who the hell is this?” as he gestures to the yet unconscious teen laying flat on the floor, breathing hitching slightly. “My step-brother.” Max replies in a dull tone, eyes glaring with both anger and sadness at the pathetic and abuse excuse of a brother that she was given. “Yeah, she stabbed him with a needle to make him pass out,” Dustin began, sliding his way into the group from beside Steve, “He and Lucas got into a fight but then Steve punched him!” Steve wore a proud smile at that, grin set on his lips. “But then he beating the crap out of Steve-” 

“Whoa whoa, Dustin-” Steve interjects, giving the young and enthusiastic boy quite the glare which barely seemed to phase the young boy, “And then Steve passed out so we took him in the car and Max drove us to the nest of the Demadogs.” Dustin continued, earning a gasp from Joyce, and Steve grabbing his arm to pull him away from all the attention he was getting. “Shut up!” He seethed, shaking Dusting slightly out of anger and embarrassment. 

“The nest…” Jim says, voice quiet so only a few could hear what he said, Eleven giving him a confused expression before catching onto his thoughts. All the Demogorgons were missing when they went to the facility, only a few being there and they only showed up in groups when they realized that Eleven was closing the gate. “What did you do?” Hopper says, now looking to Dustin and Steve, expression hard and voice stern. “We blew it up.” Mike answers from his spot by Will, hand still holding tightly to the others. “We lit it on fire and it weakened them, but then they all left in one huge group when we were trying to escape.” A flicker of confusion moves within his eyes, “I closed the gate.” Eleven says, interjecting her own sliver of dialogue as her eyes found Mike. “So they went after you.” Mike finishes, finally understanding the unusual behavior of the Demadogs when they went by Steve and Dustin instead of attacking them - it was because Elle was closing the rift so they had to go and stop her to protect the only thing keeping them alive in the humans dimension. 

“You could have been hurt!” Joyce exclaims, frantically looking to each of the children and Steve, “You shouldn’t have gone, someone could have gotten hurt.” She continues, tears once again collecting in pools at her eyes, threatening to spill over at the thought of one of the children losing their lives to the monsters. “They were with me, it was okay.” Steve says from his side of the room, although it wasn’t his plan to go to the nest anyway. He was sure that someone would have gotten injured or worse if he wouldn’t have gone to help and protect them. Hopper seemed to pick up on this and looks to Steve with the same hard expression he wore before, “You were supposed to babysit them.” Although it seemed that Hopper was more glad that everyone was fine instead of being angry at them for leaving. 

The group stood in a quiet silence, heavy and dark thoughts plaguing their mind on the situations they had gone through, and how changed they would be now because of it. There was no going back after this, they realized, they would have to carry these thoughts and feelings with them along their life. 

It wasn’t eventful after the moment, they continued on as though in a daze. The children said their goodbyes to a very tired Will before Jonathan carried him to his bedroom, and Joyce retired to her own room rather quickly, bidding all the children and teens goodnight with a tender hug, a very close one with Hopper along with a light kiss to his cheek before she retired to her room. Hopper and Steve had then taken the time to move Billy into Hoppers car, Jim planning to keep him overnight with threats of harassment to the children and Steve.  
The remaining group had then taken a vote of deciding to stay overnight at the Byers home, making quite the many phone calls to parents and family members with the measly working phone hooked up in the living room. The children easily piled in the living room with Steve while Nancy excused herself from the living room. She didn’t care how her heart did little flips and twirls in the presence of Steve, so she made her way into Jonathans room and decided to spend the night cuddled closely to the photographer. 

Steve had landed himself on the floor in a mass of pillows and blankets with Dustin snoring into his ear, Lucas and Max curled up on the couch and Eleven and Mike talking quietly in the corner of the living room. They were both leaning against the wall, blanket draped around them that held them close to one another. Hopper chose to pass out on the recliner in the living room, shotgun sitting on the floor beside the chair that was faced towards the front door in case anything else decided to make themselves known to the group by entering. He had dropped Billy off at the police station, informing his crew on why the teen was being left there and that he could be released in the next few days. 

Elle places a quilt over Hopper’s sleeping form, tucking him in with the slightest of smiles before making her way back to a smiling Mike who was caught in a mess of blankets. She moves in beside him, blanket being thrown over her shoulders.  
The two stay that way for a few silent minutes, the only noises being the snoring from Dustin and the natural noises of life in the outdoors surrounding the house, chirping crickets echoing. 

“Were you scared?” Mike finally breaks the silence with a question that had plaguing his mind since he met Eleven in an embrace as soon as his carpool made it back to the Byers home. She was snugged against him, head resting on his shoulder, she nods slowly. “Yes.” Her voice was soft and timid, a lot similar to the sound of her voice when Mike first met her - soft and frightened. He slips his arm around her waist in order to comfort her, and she burrows into his side with only a few pained whimpers passing her lips as flashes of the large beast belonging to the Upside Down entered her mind. She was quieted by Mike, hugging her close as she slowly fell asleep in his arms - safe and secure.


End file.
